SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) - An exploration of transfer of learning to clinical workplace

Authors

  • Davinder Singh, Dr. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Makani Purva, Dr. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Abstract

Introduction
Failure to handover is a major preventable cause of patient harm and is principally due to poor communication. Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (SBAR) provides a consistent and concise framework to communicate patient information and has shown to improve patient handover. The objective of this study was to investigate whether handover skills using the SBAR framework acquired through practicing handover during managing an unwell patient in hi fidelity simulated environment are transferred to the clinical environment.

Methods
A prospective educational study was designed. 12 participants’ clinical handover were audio recorded before and 4 weeks after high fidelity simulation training on the SBAR tool. Evaluation of the handover was done using a standardised scoring system. A baseline survey was also conducted to determine the trainee’s prior knowledge and use of SBAR.

Results
The results demonstrated an overall improvement post intervention which was not statistically significant. Maximum improvement was noted in the background aspect of the SBAR framework (70% to 85%). The trainees who improved most were those who scored less than 50% in their pre teaching scores, with an improvement of over 25% in the post teaching scores. Although there was an overall improvement, it was not statistically significant with Z- statistic approximation to Wilcoxon signed rank test = - 1.483 and p-value = 0.160.

Discussion
We believe that our study has demonstrated that downstream transfer of learning of communication skills using SBAR in the simulation setting to the clinical workplace can be achieved.

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Published

2018-12-12

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Section

Articles